Objective: To gather information to help the club better serve its members the club can better serve its members.

Purpose: To clarify what members expect from Kiwanis service by surveying and tracking benchmarks linked to club success.

Goals: To improve the club experience based on members’ input

Audience: Board members, with club members’ participation where designated

The member experience is an important factor in determining the health and strength of a club. Members want to love every aspect of their club. They want to feel satisfied with the value that they get from contributing time, talent and money. This tool is designed to help you gain member feedback and use it to make any needed improvements.

Begin the conversation using one of these options:

• Interview members individually. This method works well when trust among the group is strong and members feel comfortable about speaking honestly about their opinions. Give members the opportunity to speak candidly about their experience. Get to know what they are looking for in their future with Kiwanis. You might ask: What drives them to serve? What expectations do they have? How do they feel about being part of the club? What do they think of the meetings and opportunities for service? What type of impact do they feel the club could have in the community?

• Use a member satisfaction survey. This method allows everyone to have a voice--and if offered anonymously, to speak as honestly as possible. Adapt the following survey to obtain a general picture of how members feel about topics ranging from club administration to community service impact. Also include opportunities to provide feedback. You could distribute the following survey as a printed copy or collect electronic responses using an online survey provider.

• Conduct an open forum. This method may allow for more interactive discussion, if an unbiased facilitator can guide the reflections. However, some members may not feel comfortable speaking in this type of an environment. Generate discussion by prompting members with open-ended questions similar to the statements in the survey on the following page.

• Conduct a visual assessment. Tape up categories such as club administration, service impact, membership strength and member experience on a wall. Underneath them, invite members to place sticky notes with comments about things they enjoy and things they want to change. Then read each of them aloud for the benefit of the group and discuss how the feedback can be incorporated into the club’s activities.

Member satisfaction survey

This survey will help club leaders evaluate how effectively the club is meeting your expectations. Information gathered from it can help improve club operations, increasing the club’s service impact and visibility in the community.

Identifying what your club needs to start, continue and stop doing during the coming year can help you develop and refine goals. Average out the results of your surveys to determine where your club falls, then share the findings with your members via email or through a presentation at a meeting.

Is the club score 104 or more?

Congratulations! The overall club experience is a great representation of how your club impacts your community and your members. Celebrate your success and think about how those successes can inspire opportunities for improvement. What are you doing well? How might those qualities bridge the gap between your club’s strengths and opportunities for improvement?

Is the club score between 75 and 99?

Good work! Build on the momentum of your club’s current strengths. Not sure where to start? Look at your club events. A guest’s first impressions mean everything. If the experience isn’t a good use of visitors’ time, they may think twice before returning. Review the areas with answers averaging 0, 1 or 2 and brainstorm about how to implement change.

Is the club score less than 75?

Thank you for your honesty. The first step toward making a change is acknowledging that change is necessary. Where do you start? Before actively inviting potential members, discuss how to make the experience members have more meaningful.

Search for solutions

• Club management/administration: Visit www.kiwanisone.org/leadertools for resources that will help club officers lead and counsel the club to become stronger and more service-oriented.

• Membership strength: Visit www.kiwanis.org/theformula for resources that will help you invite new members and improve your club.

• Community service impact: o Take a look at another tool for improvement, called Analyzing your impact. It will help you think about how to improve your service and fundraising opportunities.

o Explore issues of Kiwanis magazine at www.kiwanis.org/magazine to browse ideas for service projects that other clubs have implemented.

o Talk to your community. Examine the tool called Rediscovering your community. Interviewing members of your community can help the club understand what needs exist and how community leaders believe Kiwanis could support them. This may also uncover opportunities for new partnerships or sponsorships. For help thinking about organizations your club could partner with, see the Developing community partnerships tool.

• Member experience: How often do you thank or recognize your members for a job well done? Read up on more ways to celebrate success by downloading the Celebrating success tool.